I don't speak Japanese, beyond what I learn in aikido (with the exception of the names of a few sushi dishes ) and have always said that it must be so much easier for Japanese students who don't have the language barrier to deal with.

Years ago, when I studied taekwon-do, I had an instructor who was a very high ranking Korean. The funny thing was that he used English almost exclusively - boy it made it much easier (we still learned the Korean names over time). Before that, when I studied Japanese karate, the locals used all Japanese, and it confused the heck out of me ... hmm.

I find the language barrier an extra obstacle to overcome. However, it probably won't go away anytime soon, so, we'll just have to accept it.